Eureka High senior Brooke Samuelson had never run the 3,200-meter until she stepped on the track at Festus High to start the season at the McCullough-Douglass Invitational on March 28.
The Wildcats were one of 29 teams and many of the 19 events had multiple heats to fit in all of the participants. Out of the 40 runners in the 3,200, Samuelson was the only one to finish in under 11:00 with a winning time of 10:51.19. Rockwood Summit freshman Isabel Burlbaw was second in11:01.38.
Samuelson was the only runner in the 400 to finish in under 1:00 with a winning PR time of 58.16 seconds. Blue Springs South senior Eva Uhrmacher was second in 1:00.15.
On the strength of those 20 points from Samuelson, Eureka finished ninth out of 29 teams with 29 points. Jefferson City Helias Catholic won with 121 points, and the host Tigers, last year’s Class 4 state champions, were second with 93.
“The variety of schools, the depth, it’s probably one of the most competitive meets we go to all year,” Eureka head coach Darrell Lewis said. “We race much more tactically rather than running all out for fast times.”
The other meet the Wildcats have competed in was the Rockwood Quad at Marquette High on April 2. Lafayette High won with 233 points, and Eureka was second with 169. Marquette (third, 167) and Summit (fourth, 122) rounded out the team scoring.
Samuelson ran for the Eureka cross country team her freshman and sophomore years, but not as a junior in 2024 when the Wildcats won the Class 5 state championship under Lewis. She rejoined the team last fall and was Eureka’s top finisher in 14th place. Samuelson ran a 4:42 mile for the indoor track club she belongs to.
Settling on which four events Samuelson will compete in, especially in the postseason, might be Lewis’s biggest challenge all year. At the Class 5 state meet last May, Samuelson finished fifth in the 800 and 1,600 and was on the 4x800 team that was seventh.
“The range she has is phenomenal,” Lewis said. “She’s more of an 800 or mile runner. She has the rare ability where she can go up to 5K and can come down and run the 400. (In the 3,200 at Festus) she ran with the group through the mile and once she was confident she could get to the finish line, she took off.”
Junior Sofia Hoerchler was on the Wildcat team that won state cross country. At Festus, Hoerchler was fifth in the 1,600 in 5:25.37, and she ran a leg of the 4x800 relay that was third in 10:01.19 with junior Natalia Hunt and seniors Haley Meek and Abby Smith.
“That’s a good time this early,” Lewis said of the relay. “We can put Brooke on it. That would drop our time.”
Senior Haley Deakin was seventh in the state in the javelin with a throw of 39.23 meters.
Deakin’s twin sister, Paige, threw big PR of 35.70 in the discus to win by two meters at Rockwood.
Seniors Savanna Wylie and Zara Renner ran as part of the all-state 4x100 and 4x200 squads.
Freshman Reese Vogelsang cleared 2.75 meters at Marquette for second place in pole vault. Freshman Alaina Montgomery was second in the 100 hurdles in 17.90 at the Quad.
Varsity newcomers help Wildcats finish strong at Festus, Marquette
How high can Kai fly?
The answer to that question will be revealed over the next two months every time Eureka High senior Kai Mitchell clears the bar in the pole vault for the school’s track and field team.
“The sky’s the limit for him,” Eureka head coach Brad DeMattei said, tongue in cheek.
On a cool, rainy day at the Marquette Mustang Invitational on April 4, Mitchell went over the bar at 4.11 meters. When the bar was raised to 4.59 meters, it reached the height of the Eureka school record. Although Mitchell cleared 4.41 meters and finished second at the Festus McCullough-Douglass Invitational on March 28, the school record will have to wait for another day.
“His first attempt was OK, but on his second and third attempts he barely brushed the bar off,” DeMattei said.
Mitchell still finished first at Marquette.
Mitchell’s rise in his event has been symbolic of the Wildcats’ fortunes in their first two meets against athletes and teams sure to be around when the Class 5 state championships are held at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City on May 29-30. Eureka scored 45 points and was fourth at M-D. Columbia Rock Bridge, third in the state last season, won M-D with 58 points. The Wildcat scored 110 points and were second at the Mustang to Lafayette’s 148. Fourth in the state last year, Kirkwood was third with 80.
“It’s been a great start to the season, and we’re excited to see where it takes us,” DeMattei said.
In his first two varsity races in the 100-meter dash, sophomore Keith Major finished fifth in 11.06 at M-D and was second in 11.61 at Marquette, where he won the 200 in 23.07 and ran a leg on the winning 4x100 relay that finished in 43.28. Major’s half brother, Riley, senior Kaden Klages and junior Dakalo Munyai ran on the 4x100.
“We knew sprint times weren’t going to be fast (at Marquette) but we were treating it like an early cross country match where placement matters more than times,” said DeMattei. “What makes (Keith) a good sprinter is he has range and he’s just starting to tap into his potential. He adds speed to any relay we put him in.”
Senior Breylen Bennett will score high this season on the track and in the field. Bennett won the 110 hurdles in 15.16 seconds and the high jump in 1.97 meters. He opened the season at Festus with a 15.05 in the 110 hurdles for second place. At Marquette, Bennett was closing in on the school record, but slipped in the slick run-up.
“We shut him down the rest of the day after that,” DeMattei said.
Eureka’s other top finishers at Marquette were sophomore Asante Brown, who was third in the 110 hurdles in 16.54 and fourth in the 300 hurdles in 44.06, and sophomore Garrett Anders, who was third in the triple jump in 11.81.
Sophomore Andrew Perry, junior Charles Zoeller and senior Jackson Dalton are the core Eureka’s open and relay distance crew. Dalton and Perry were state cross country qualifiers last fall. Zoeller plays soccer in the fall.
Senior Jacob Boucher (shot, discus) and junior Wyatt Jonas (javelin) are the top throwers.
Eureka hosts 13 teams at its annual invitational Friday starting at 4:15 p.m.
Eureka gets Good Friday split in Jackson
Tuesday and Wednesday didn’t decide the outcome of the season, but the two baseball games between Eureka High and Lafayette High will matter a month from now when district seedings begin to sprout.
The Suburban Conference Yellow pool rivals met after the Leader deadline. There will be coverage of the home-and-home series in the April 23 issue. The Wildcats (8-2) and Lancers (9-2) split the series last season, and the two conference outcomes help shape seeding later in the Class 6 District 2 tournament Eureka is hosting.
Eureka head coach Ken Droege said he’s in favor of the back-to-back games. The baseball teams in the Jefferson County Activities Association schedule conference games the same way.
“It allows you to coach more and make adjustments from one game to the next,” said Droege, whose Wildcats are almost halfway to their fifth 20-win season in a row. “It’s always a good series and they’re fun to play. I really like it. On the Yellow side, we have some good teams in there. It’s how baseball has been built to be played.”
Eureka has built its winning record against a bevy of talented teams just as capable of winning 20 games. After starting the season playing five games in six days in the Troy Buchanan Classic to start the season, the Wildcat bats came alive in wins in rapid succession March 28-31. An 11-0 shutout against De Smet was followed by an 8-7 win over Oakville. Eureka then went to Imperial and blanked Seckman High 8-0.
The Wildcats scored all the runs they needed in the win over the Spartans, of the Metro Catholic Conference, in the five innings before the game was called by the mercy rule. At the plate for Eureka, Easton Hunt was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs scored and he swiped one of the team’s seven stolen bases. Pitcher Ben Lackey struck out six and pitched all five innings.
The Wildcats needed extra innings to take down the Tigers. Levi Fieser started the bottom of the eighth with a single. Dominic Woods laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved Fieser to second. On a 1-1 count, Drew Mohesky delivered the game-winning hit.
Eureka scored seven runs in the first two innings against the Jaguars. Tyler Sweeney doubled and Fieser tripled, and Andrew Shephard had two hits and three RBIs. The Wildcats stole five bases. Big righthander John Haberkorn pitched the shutout.
By the time Eureka got to Jackson on Good Friday, the Wildcats were battle-tested, and they needed to be to take the measure of the host Indians and Edwardsville in a triangular that squared off more rough edges. Jackson won 23 games and a Class 6 district title last year. Edwardsville has won three Class 4A Illinois championships since 2019. The Wildcats started with a 10-2 win over the Tigers and finished with a 6-2 defeat to the Indians.
With a pitching staff loaded with college pitching talent, that area of Eureka is safe and sound. Droege’s not so sure about the offense and other aspects. Droege won a Class 4 state title at Rockwood Summit in 2012.
“We’re still trying to figure out what we got,” Droege said. “Where’s our offense going to come from? We have a lot of depth. All options are on the table. It’s not like it’s been awful. Some consistency on approaches at the plate could be better. We’re playing a lot of guys, so it’s hard to get them into rhythm.
“Pitching has been very good with room for improvement. All of our arms have shown signs of being good. With every outing, there’s an opportunity to build.”
In a 1-1 game against Edwardsville in the fourth, the Wildcats broke open the game with six runs, then scored three more in the sixth to cement the win. Eureka pounded out 12 hits, with Cade Gustafson and Cole Rogers each collecting three. Rogers was a double away from hitting for the cycle with a single, triple and home run. Craig Ringe hit a solo home run. In his first start of the season, Nathan Rutz earned the win after pitching five innings. Brady McGuire pitched two innings of one-hit scoreless relief.
In the loss to Jackson, the game was tied 2-2 going into the sixth where the Indians scored four runs. The Wildcats were limited to three hits. Gustafson was the starting pitcher and fanned eight. In his 2/3 inning of relief, Jack Baker allowed three earned runs.
“Cade went five strong innings and threw really well,” Droege said. “He had three pitches that were working. (Jackson) got a leadoff home run in the sixth. The wheels kind of fell off after that.”